Dear Readers,
July 4th, Independence Day approaches, and as we celebrate, let me reprint excerpts from columns past on the Declaration of Independence and Italy’s contribution to the American Revolution: The Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776.
Although the colonists declared themselves independent of England and set up “The United States of America”, a long war followed this Declaration, and it was not until April 30, 1789 that George Washington became the first President of the United States.
He took the first Presidential oath of office on the balcony of the City Hall in New York – the new nation’s temporary capital. From 1789 to 1790, the residential mansion was located at No. 1 Cherry Street, New York; John Adams of Massachusetts was Vice President.
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Philip Mazzei, the Italian born close friend (and Virginia neighbor by invitation) of Thomas Jefferson, influenced the constitutional draft Jefferson wrote in 1783. In other words, the very basis of our government, through Thomas Jefferson, was influenced by an Italian.
The phrase “all men are created equal” was undoubtedly transferred from a letter of Mazzei to Jefferson in which he uses the phrase “All men are by nature born equally free and independent.” Mazzei is but one example of Italians who were important to the early years of our Nation, but research to highlight Italian American contributions did not coalesce until the last few decades. Also there was no unified entity as Italy until 1870.
During the colonial period there were people from Savoy, from the Piedmont, from Lombardy, from Tuscany, from Venetia, from the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, and from other city-states. Different countries owned parts of Italy, and the Kingdom of Sardinia which eventually would become the reigning dynasty of Italy was limited to Sardinia during the Napoleonic regime.
After Napoleon was overthrown, the dynasty resumed its control of Savoy, Liguria and Piedmont. Immigrants from the Savoy might be categorized as French, from the Trentino as Austrians. Names were anglicized if the person spent some time in England. Giovanni Caboto, born in Genoa, became Cabot when he went to England. In school, we Italian American kids had no inkling that Italians participated in the Revolutionary War, but they did.
Three regiments fought under DeGrasse and another at Yorktown was composed mostly of Italian volunteers from Savoy, but they fought under the French flag. One regiment was even known as the “Royal Italien.” The leaders of the Revolution were men of culture and of intellect. They knew of the tremendous role of Italians in the arts, in history, in commerce.
They knew of the world leadership of Rome, of the importance of the maritime republics (Venice, Genoa, Pisa, Amalfi), of the artistic primacy of Florence, and of the power of Italian bankers. Here they were trying to pull together a group of states into a new nation when in Italy independent states has existed for centuries and had achieved a high degree of culture and commerce.
In England many from Italy had been welcomed and had been given leadership roles. Bartolomeo Tagliaferro of Venice went to England in 1602 but the Tagliaferro family was represented in Virginia by 1637. However names changed, Tagliaferro became Tolliver, and D’Anna became Dana; Rossi, Ross; Bassi, Bass.
There was quite a bit of trade between the various states of Italy and the colonies and in the process some Italians remained in America. Italian Protestants might come through France. When Catholics were allowed in Maryland, some Catholics from Italy also came. In the New World the claims of England, France and Spain were all based on the explorations of Italians – English claims through Cabot, French through Verrazzano and the Tonti brothers, Spanish through the explorations of Italian priests.
No Italians in the Revolution? Major Cosmo De Medici displayed outstanding bravery and was given a grant of 1872 acres of land by the state of North Carolina. Captain Tagliaferro was killed at the Battle of Guilford Hall, Lieutenant Bracco at White Plains. There are others too: Brigadier General Christopher Baldy (Baldi), Colonel Isaac Corsa, Lieutenant Colonel Luigi Antonio De Cambray-Digny was one of ten to receive a medal struck by Congress.
Luigi Giovanetti Pellion, an officer in the Piedmontese Army, asked to be sent to America to serve in the American army. Others saw action on French or English warships. Major John Belli was deputy quartermaster general and Washington appointed Major J.J. Rivardi to fortify Baltimore.
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By the time Boston patriot Paul Revere took his “midnight ride” on April 18, 1775, the eve of the Battle at Lexington, the quarrel with England had been going on for ten years.
The July 4th, 1776 signing of the Declaration of Independence just formalized it. At the outbreak of the Revolution, Italians and Italian Americans with an anglicized spelling of their names were early getting their share of fatal firepower from the British soldiers, i.e. James Bracco, killed in action on October 28, 1776. But Italy contributed more than men to the American Revolution.
Even before the conflict started, Italy was a source of inspiration to American patriots because of the struggle waged by Pasquale Paoli and his fellow Corsicans for independence. The Corsicans had been for centuries under the dominion of Genoa who treated them more as colonial subjects than as fellow Italians.
The Corsicans tried several times to regain their freedom, beginning as far back as 1545, but their struggle reached epic proportions in 1755 when Pasquale Paoli, assisted by Carlo Bonaparte, Napoleon’s father, landed on the island from Italy and fought heroically against the Genoese. For 14 years, Paoli fought with all the means at his disposal, arousing the admiration of free men all over the world, particularly in England and America, until 1768, when Genoa sold Corsica to the French.
It was then that Paoli and 400 of his followers left the island and sought refuge at Leghorn. Eventually he moved to England where he died in 1804. The town of Paoli, not far from Philadelphia, was named after him. His chief admirers, however, were the Sons of Liberty who played an important role in the Revolution. When the New York Battalion of the Independent Foot Company was organized in 1773, it took the name “Corsicans.”
Among Italian Corsicans who fought for American Independence aboard French ships were seamen Dominique Pozzo, Ignace Nini, Joseph Masso, Barthelem Martinelli, Pierre Santelli or Lur, Dominique Turchini, and Joseph Dottore. Many men from France with Italian surnames fought during the American Revolution.
Some of them were probably the offspring of Italians who settled in France, or Italian citizens who assumed or were given French surnames. To ascertain the names of Italians who fought under the French flag is difficult because of the way their names were written or copied. Philip Phinizy (Finizzi), for example, came over with Rochambeau. In 1903, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a list of soldiers and sailors who fought under the French flag during the American Revolution.
The document, titled “Les Combattants Francais de la Guerre Americaine 1778-1783” contains scores of Italian names. British records also provide additional evidence of Italian participation in the American Revolution. Whenever the English imprisoned an enemy soldier, they kept a record of his name and rank in a ledger.
Among the Italian born volunteers to bear arms against the British were Filippo Mazzei, Carlo Bellini and Vincenzo Rossi, who joined Patrick Henry’s forces. Newspaper articles by Mazzei and his close friend Thomas Jefferson inspired the formation of independent military companies of volunteers in every county of Virginia. God Bless America
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July, the month we celebrate Independence Day in America, is a good time to pause and remember that when our country is at war, declared or not, the USO is there to boost morale and to help support the needs of our now more than 350,000 troops serving overseas. Freedom isn’t free; it has to be paid for, over and over again.
No one knows this better than the young Americans who are now fighting terror and tyranny, in dusty deserts, on frozen mountainsides, and in dangerous places all over the world. These courageous men and women are putting their lives on the line for us, 365 days a year.
The USO has had to expand services to a level unseen in generations. In the past 12 months, USO has mounted Entertainment Tours in 21 countries. USO Centers and Canteens have hosted nearly 5,000,000 visits by GIs who needed a break from the war, and deserved a moment of peace, with a chance to e-mail or call home to loved ones sorely missed.
Until all of America’s sons and daughters overseas come home, help the USO sustain our troops through these difficult times by donation generously to the USO, P.O. Box 96860, Washington, DC 20077.
10631 Vinedale Street, Sun Valley, CA 91352 - Phone (818) 767-3413 - Fax: (818) 767-1410
